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From Publishers Weekly
Those who have bemoaned the death of the true fairy tale will be delighted by this charming foray from World Fantasy Award-winner McKillip (Ombria in Shadow). She skillfully weaves together two eras and two sets of believable characters to create a single spellbinding story that brilliantly modernizes a beautiful old formula: the clever orphaned foundling has no desire to seek out her parents nor ambition for high office; the powerful wizard is a disguised woman deeply in love with the conquering king, who treats his subjects kindly; the sullen young queen catapulted to her throne by her father's unexpected death turns out to have both skill and humor in unexpected places; the haughty witch finds herself honestly baffled by turns of events that she never predicted. Moreover, where another author might have played up slapstick clumsiness for cheap laughs, McKillip evokes compassion for the characters' frustrations as they take their befuddled steps toward their predestined meeting. Best of all, the strong female leads neither rail against nor submit to patriarchy. In this magical world blissfully free of bias, people are simply themselves, equally intelligent and witty and thoroughly capable while prone to the occasional error, in a manner that transcends feminism and becomes a celebration of essential humanity. The brisk sweep to the slightly abrupt conclusion leaves the reader longing for more.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
McKillip has a long record of creating magical stories and faery worlds that truly live, even if it takes a bit of reading to get into them. This book is an excellent example of her approach. Nepenthe, an orphan, is a scribe and translator in the royal library of Raine. Then, during the coronation of the new queen of Raine, a young mage brings her a book written in a language of thorns that no one can read. Discovering its secret becomes her obsession. Meanwhile, the young queen must deal with courtiers who seek to profit from her youth and inexperience. Her search for usable knowledge brings her secretly to the library. An old epic of forgotten times may have something to say of the fate of Raine, if the facts behind the poetry can be found, and the quest for those facts constitutes the heart of a novel that won't in the least disappoint McKillip's loyal readers or their high expectations. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
amazing writer,
By
This review is from: Alphabet Of Thorn (Paperback)
i think that this is one of the better written books i've had an opportunity to come in contact with, her writing style is just amazing. i mean, no offence, but the plot is not the most fascinating i've come across... it's focus is on a librarian who's trying to translate a book written in some foreign language. kind of dry sounding. but the author does a phenomenal job at capturing a sense of passion and obsession that one can't help but get drawn in to.my one complaint about this author in general is that her books are kind of detached from the reader, distant in a way. it's not so much that i don't care about what happens, but that i'm just not given enough information to be able to assess the situation in depth. on the other hand, this quality gives a lot of her books an air of mystery and unpredictability. like the detachment you feel on a rainy day, where things are kind of surreal and you don't feel quite connected to the world, feeling like you're interacting with the world from another place, not your own body. so while this is a negative, in certain moods i do enjoy it because of that almost dream like approach. unique to be sure.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly lucid...,
By temiak (Nebraska, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Alphabet Of Thorn (Hardcover)
I have read several of McKillip's books, and while I haven't always understood them completely, I've never disliked them. McKillip's style is vague and dreamy, more apt to give impressions rather than photographic descriptions. If you can appreciate that style, give her books a try; if not, might I suggest you look somewhere else?As to the Alphabet of Thorn in particular, I found it surprisingly grounded in reality (as real as fantasy gets, anyways!) for one of McKillip's stories. (Never fear, it was still occasionally obtuse and mystifying, but less so than her previous works.) It was an interesting premise, and had me hypothesizing until nearly the end. Once the mystery was revealed, the book quickly drew to a close in a moderately anticlimactic finish. Don't get the wrong impression; this was more of a disaster-averted-at-the-final-moment sort of anticlimax rather than a disappointing conclusion. This is also one of the few of her books I'd be willing to reread at some future date (once I've forgotten the answer to the riddle of thorns). Give it a try.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous, of course!,
By
This review is from: Alphabet Of Thorn (Hardcover)
I always expect the best from McKillip. Here the fascination was in two interwoven stories, coming together in a terrifying climax. McKillip threw out some great red herrings, too, as a major character who I thought was someone else in disguise turned out not to be.In a rare turn, though, I was disappointed in the ending. A child's fate is in the balance, and nobody thinks to consult the father. He's more than just a sperm donor, you know! Despite this, McKillip is my all time favorite and I will continue to look forward to new work. Deby Fredericks, author of THE MAGISTER'S MASK
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